Mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone or a PDA (personal digital assistants), uses various small-sized electric connectors, such as a flexible flat cable (FPC)/a flexible print circuit (FPC) connector or connector between substrate.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional FPC electric connector will be explained. A conventional FPC electric connector is mounted on a motherboard and connects electrically with FPC having several terminals at one end. As shown in FIG. 1, the FPC electric connector comprise (a) contact points 2 which are arrayed at specified intervals and that connect directly to a terminal set on the FPC and contacts 1, each of which equips an engage part 3 set on said contact point 2 facing opposite, and (b) a reception recess 11 having aperture facing parallel with a surface of a motherboard, an attachment recess 12 to which several contacts 1 are engaged, a pressure part 13 which engages to an engage part 3 while pressing a FPC 100 inserted into the reception recess 11 toward the contact point with respect to the rotation, a support part (not shown) for rotatably holding the pressure part 13 and a housing 10 comprising a cover 14 contiguous to the pressure part 13 for causing the pressure part 13 rotate.
The FPC 100 is formed by arraying several terminals at a predetermined spacing along with one end surface such that the contact point 2 of each contact 1 is located in the position where the terminals are contacted thereto. FIG. 1 (a) shows the condition that the FPC 100 is inserted in the reception recess 11 of the housing 10 while the surface having terminals of the FPC 100 setting below. Thus, the contact point 2 of the contact 1 protrudes upper extending into the reception recess 11 so as to make contacts to the terminal. The contact 1 comprises the contact point 2 as described above, the arm 4 contiguous to the contact point 2 while making movable to the up and down direction, the engage part 3 extending to the reception recess 11 and engaging with the pressure part 13, and the leg part 5 soldered on the contact point set at a predetermined position on the motherboard so as to provide the electrical connection to the motherboard. Prior to the insertion of the FPC 100 into the reception recess 11, the contact point 2 of the contact 1 projects inside the reception recess 11, however, when the FPC 100 is inserted once, the structure allows the terminals to be set on the FPC 100 to urging the contact point 2 downward to make contact under the predetermined contact pressure. The contact 1 under the inserted condition to the FPC 100 creates the elastic force that urges the contact point 2 upward; this makes possible to maintain the stable electrical connection.
The contact 1 may be produced from a conductive thin metal plate by punching into a predetermined figure by presswork processes etc., and then providing appropriate plating. For the thin metal plates, plates of bronze or copper etc. with the thickness of about 0.1 mm˜0.3 mm may be used. As the plating, although gold plating is ordinary used, however, considering about corrosion and others, alloy-plating such as nickel-plating or nickel-tin-plating may be used.
The reception recess 11 is configured to have an opening area and depth so as to retain one end to which several terminals are disposed. The attachment recess 12 is configured for allowing the engagement part 3 of the contact 1 to be inserted; to make the contact point 2 movable up and down; and to be soldered to the leg part 5 to the motherboard. Therefore, the attachment recess 12 includes an insertion recess which receives the engage part 3 and an arm part reception recess which has the sufficient space allowing the arm 4 continuous to the contact point 2 to move up and down.
The supporting part (not shown), for example, when the pressure part 13 is shaped to the figure including cantilever protrusions on its both sides, may be a hole accepting the cantilever protrusions; or, when the pressure a part 13 has the structure having holes on its both ends, the supporting part may be construed as a protrusion being inserted into the holes.
The pressure part 13, for example, comprises the plane surface 13a and the half-round protrusion 13b contiguous to the cover part 14. When the plane surface 13a placed opposite to the contact point 2 of the contact 1 which protrudes from the lower side of the reception recess 11, the pressure part 13 does not protrude into the reception recess 11 and rotates about a support part (not shown). As the half-round protrusion 13b becomes to the opposite position to the contact point 2, the pressure part 13 protrudes into the reception recess 11 so that the pressure part 13 urges the FPC 100 inserted in the reception recess 11 to the contact point direction. The condition that the FPC 100 is urged to the contact point direction ensures to retain the stable electrical contacts even if the FPC 100 moves up and down directions by vibrations, since the condition allows the FPC 100 to move with keeping the contact between the contact point 2 and the terminals.
The Cover 14, as mentioned above, is continuous to the pressure part 13 and causes the pressure part 13 rotate about a support part (not shown). In FIG. 1(a), the protrusion part 13b of the pressure part 13 is placed opposite to the contact point 2 prior to the insertion of the FPC 100 and is set to protrude in the reception recess 11 so that the planar surface 13a of the pressure part 13 faces opposite to the contact point 2 by moving the cover part upwardly for allowing the FPC to be inserted. After the FPC 100 is inserted, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the cover part 14 is inclined to the direction opposite to the insert direction of the FPC 100 so that the cover part 14 overlaps to a part of the FPC 100 while facing the protrusion part 13b opposite to the contact point 2 further while extending in the reception recess 11 so as to urge the FPC 100 toward the contact point direction. As shown by the arrow in Fig. (a), the conventional electric connector adopts the structure in that the cover 14 is inclined to the direction opposite to the insertion of the FPC 100. Now, the housing 10 may be formed from plastic materials such as PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) resin, LCP (liquid crystal polymer), polyamide resin, PBT (polybuthylene telephthalate) resin by flow molding using molding frames.
The conventional electric connector has a structure in that the cover part covers the FPC, and is lifted with respect to the insertion direction of the FPC, and then, is laid down in opposite direction to the insertion direction of the FPC. Hence, the FPC pushes the cover part up when the FPC is pulled around to the upper direction, and this causes problem of causing easy detachment of the FPC thereby resulting in the unstable of connection condition. In order to access to such problem, an electric connector has been proposed so far wherein the directions of lifting up and falling down of the cover are opposite with respect to the conventional one (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). This electric connector comprises an insulation housing, several terminals attached side-by-side in a predetermined pitch, and an actuator such that the FPC is inserted backward from an insertion slot. The actuator is constructed rotatably by engaging an engage part of which a base part is disposed to the terminal; the actuator can rotate between the first position, which is standing up at the insulation housing and the second position, which is laying down along until the housing while turning backward from the first position. The engage part of the actuator and the terminal includes the structure in that the engaging part of point of the tip portion of the cantilevered engage part extending substantially horizontal toward an insertion slot is inserted in a hole made on a base end of the actuator, and a camshaft disposed at a peripheral edge of a window hole at the lower side of the engage portion.
In the above-described electric connector, an engage tip of terminal has elasticity, and when the actuator is positioned on the first position, a short shaft of camshaft turns to the vertical direction and no power is exerted between the camshaft and the engage tip. When the actuator is turned from the first position to the second position, the long shaft of camshaft rotates toward the vertical direction to provide the elastic force to the engage tip and the elastic force pushes the inserted FPC down through the camshaft so that a predetermined contact pressure between the contact point of the terminal and the FPC may be maintained. In addition, unlike the conventional electric connector, since the directions of lifting up and falling down of the cover are opposite directions each other, even if some powers affect to the directions in which the FPC pulls out, or the FPC is pulled around upward, both actions create the force toward the direction in which the cover falls down, and therefore, the FPC is hard to come off, thereby providing the advantage of making it possible to maintain the stable electric connection.
However, the above conventional electric connector has the structure in which engage tip has elasticity. When cover falls down, the long shaft of the camshaft turns vertical direction and projects into the insertion slot. The engage tip strongly pushes the camshaft to protrude into the insertion slot and this prevent the FPC from insertion, and hence, in order to insert and to attach the FPC, in the same procedure as the conventional electric connector, three process are required for installing thereof comprising the steps of; 1) lifting up cover, 2) inserting FPC to insertion slot, 3) putting down cover. Particularly, it consumes large time for the electric connector, which is produced for use of mobile terminal with small sizes and a thin housing and thin cover piling, to lift up the cover upon the installation. Therefore, a novel connector structure that can perform this process easily or does not need this process is requested so far.
[Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-246086.